


End Zone

by RedXD



Series: Dead Pasture [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Dystopian-esc, Explicit Language, Insanity, Kidnapping, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Original Fiction, Original Mythology, Original Universe, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Original Character, Rape, Weapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-09-05 14:09:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16812199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedXD/pseuds/RedXD
Summary: Light is everywhere. Quia Nova has never known anything otherwise. Until she steps into her new workplace. There she meets a mysterious girl with lots of secrets. There she breaks the rules and gets kicked out of the 'Society' into the messed up world of the End Zone. The End Zone isn't light. It's not even Dark. It's... strange.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Finally gonna start posting this! This is an original work just like 'To Save The Girl At The Bus Stop.' 
> 
> All characters and story belongs to me.

I stumble into my room.

It's dusty. I should clean it soon, but I don't want to waste my rags. 

My notebook lays on the floor open to my last page. 

Ideas.. so many possibilities. 

I wonder, could I find a new way to ditch my sorrows?

My pale, thin hand grasps the notebook. I grab my favorite red pen. It's my only pen, but I love it dearly. 

I begin to write shakily on the page.

_"Sign me up for comfort..."_


	2. From Our Carefree Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So quick update! I added a prologue because it ended up being reworked so this is the actual first chapter but the prologue is important so make sure to go read that!
> 
> This chapters title is based off the song:  
> Time to Say Goodbye - Casey Lee Williams + Jeff Williams (RWBY Soundtrack)

Sunlight filters into her eyes. Birds tweet and sing outside the windows. Another peaceful day inside the Society. Her society. Life is good for her, always has been.

Quia stretches and crawls from her bed. She groans when her head bangs the backboard. A light throb spreads through her head. She opens her dresser. She takes out a white shirt with a white skirt. She’ll wear her brown skirt and shirt tomorrow. (Everyone wears neutral colors. Only government officials wear colors. It shows their authority.)

She changes into the plain clothes and grabs her badge. First day at her new job. Her mother works as a gardener. She is assigned to be a doctor. Well nurse for now.

Hopping down the stairs two at a time, (that is technically against the rules, but she hasn’t gotten into trouble for it yet), she prepares toast for her and her Mom.

“Quia? Are you ready for your first day, dear?” Her mother’s pale chestnut eyes crinkle as she smiles at her. Her hair curls against her neck, gray hairs mixed between dark brown strands.

Putting the toast in two separate paper towels, Quia nods and hands her mother one of the bundles of toast. “Yep! I’m excited. And nervous. What was your first day as a gardener like?”

Her mother smiles fondly as she remembers her first day. “I was nervous and excited like you, but I also knew I’d be fine. The officials choose these jobs for us for a reason. I already knew I would love being a gardener. It’s simply a suiting job for me.”

She gives her mom a small nod. Of course she would do fine. Being a doctor was a dream she knew well.

—

As she walks towards the hospital, her EIC (Electronic Identification and Communicator) bings with an incoming call.

Quia clicks accept.

“Hi, Del.”

She hears some muffled noises before a familiar, high pitched voice fills her ears.

“Hi Quia! Are you on your way to your new job?”

Del, or Delaney, has been Quia’s best friend for a few years. She’s almost always full of energy and is obsessed with cooking. Even if she hadn’t received her job yet, (Del’s a year younger than Quia) she would no doubt be getting chef.

“Yeah. I am.” A quick sigh escapes her mouth. Life is changing, something she never really adjusts well to.

“Well good luck, I heard that the hospital you’re assigned to gets break ins.”

What? “When did you learn this?” Quia’s mom was an avid newspaper reader, so if Quia doesn’t know something news related then something’s up.

“You remember my brother Henry right? He works in the construction and building archives. I called him last night and he mentioned it after I brought up where you were getting assigned to.” Del’s voice takes over a serious tone.

She feels like there’s more to what Del’s brother said then what Del is telling her. Even so, what that other possible information could be worries her. Quia doesn’t ask.

“Okay, well I’m nearly to the hospital so I’ll call you after work, Del.”

Dell’s voice returns to its cheery state making Quia question if it had even changed in the first place.

“Alrighty!” She clicks to end the call.

Her Device cut off. It was time to get to work. Fear of the unknown settles in her stomach.

—

The hospital is a large rectangular structure made up of pale bricks. Triangular windows are slotted into place every few feet, in rows. An immense red plus sign hung at the left top corner of the building.

Her feet tap as she walks into the hospital. Before she can prepare herself, yelling begins. She blinks until her eyes land on a girl near the front desk.

The girl has long lavender hair, some of it in two identical space buns atop her head. Weird. It’s against the rules to dye your hair. If a child is born with colored hair, they have to dye it a natural color. On her head are black and light red goggles. She also has sugar cookie skin. She wears a black leather jacket over a tan shirt that says ‘Kill’ on it. Strange. Scary? Yeah that fit. Along with that, the girl wears shorts the color of her goggles. Above her knee is a red leg band and below her knees are medium tall black boots. Her shirt matches a pair of fingerless gloves on her hands. Scars run down the skin showing on her legs, one covered by a band-aid. To top it all off, she has a red scarf hanging loosely around her neck. She sticks out like a black sheep. Both her clothes and hair are breaking rules and her vast amount of profanity isn’t helping. This girl definitely has some guts to be so public about her rule breaking.

Quia slowly walks closer and listens.

“You sick bastards can rot in hell! I want to see my sister!” The girl yells loudly as she grabs one of the doctors by his coat and shakes him. This girl seems violent. And frustrated.

Two other doctors grab her from behind and pulled her off the first doctor. They all have strained faces, weary with annoyance. The girl kicks them and struggles against their grip.

“DON’T TOUCH ME ASSHOLES!” Her voice cut like a dagger through the room. The few other people there turned to stare at the confusing scene.

She kicks one in the crotch with her feet from behind. She bites the wrist of the other and smirks as their hands fly off her. Is this what Del was talking about?

The girl then dashes away from them.. wait.. is she coming this direction? Oh fudge she is.

The girl was looking straight at her and no doubt was running towards her too.

What the bean swaddle is happening? (Her Mom had taught her from a young age not to use ‘Potty words.’ It was against the rules as they were too violent.)

Quia feels her wrist being tugged at. She glances up to see the strange girl pulling her speedily behind her.

As they maneuver through the corridors, Quia tries to question the stranger.

“What’s happening? Why are you taking me with you?”

The stranger ignores her, continuing to navigate the halls. Eventually, the girl stops and squats them both in a small cornered section.

“Listen here.” The girl looks at her with determination. “You look new and you obviously already have your badge. I need to borrow it.”

Quia gulps. This doesn’t seem good. If she lent her badge to her, she’d no doubt be punished for rule breaking. The girl seems to be some sort of fugitive. If she didn’t though, what would the girl do?

“Why should I?” She tries to sound bitter, but has no idea if she’s succeeded.

The stranger smirks and her eyes squint mischievously. Quia notices that her eyes a dark green. Full of flowers and midnight forests. That’s weird. She’s never seen someone with that eye color before. In fact, everyone she’s ever met had some shade of brown as their eye color. It was different, but in a good way.

“If you do help me, I’ll make sure to return the favor later. I can no doubt be of assistance to you soon enough.” What does she mean by that?

Then and only then does Quia notice something extremely worrying.

The stranger doesn’t have the marks of passing. Basically, when every child is born, they get their marks of passing. It’s sort of like a tattoo as you can never get rid of it or wash it off. All citizens, even humans have the marks of passing. Just the two colored dots below each eye on the edge. Robots have metallic wrist cuffs instead and animals have a collar. This girl had none of the above. No collar, no metallic wrists, and no marks of passing.

“I know life can just hit ya sometimes, but we don’t have time for you to get lost in the clouds right now, okay?” The girl smirks. 

A frown began to form on Quia’s face. She doesn’t like this situation and this girl isn’t helping one bit.

“What if I say no?” It was a very normal question. Honestly, Quia didn’t want to get punished for not reporting a law breaker.

The girl’s face morphs into a slightly strained smile. Hmm.. maybe nothing bad would happen if she said n- “Then I’ll make sure your death is quick.” The stranger deadpans with a crazy grin.

Well then. Is she telling the truth? Or bluffing? She seems serious… and she did kick those doctors in the balls a few minutes ago.

Swallowing, Quia nods and hands the girl her badge. The badge itself is made of leather and is extremely warm due to that day’s warm weather. As her fingers brush the girl’s, she feels a shocking cold. How was this girl’s skin so cold? Weird..

Once the girl has half her hand on the badge, she swipes it out of Quia’s reach. Quickly and quietly, the stranger grabs her wrist again and navigates the halls for a second time.

This time the girl grabs her wrist that isn’t covered in her long white sleeves. The cold touch sends a shiver down Quia’s spine.

They both quickly run through the corridors until they reach an elevator. It’s a rusty silver and it opens to reveal a tall nurse in a long white coat.

The stranger walks in smoothly, putting her hands- and the badge- in her pockets. Quia nervously follows and tries to act as calm as possible.

A second or two later, the doors close with a swift ‘Shoop!’ Silence overtakes the elevator for a few more seconds.

All of a sudden the nurse is pulling out a syringe, attacking the girl. Quia thinks the nurse is going to be successful, but she ends up being wrong.

The stranger grabs the nurse’s wrist with the syringe and quickly moves, grabbing the other wrist and pulling her syringe less arm behind her back. Quia hears a snap. The nurse roars in pain and drops the syringe to cradle her broken arm on the ground.

The girl snatches the syringe and stabs it into the nurse’s back. The nurse’s eyes widen as she falls to the ground unconscious.

A ding is made when the elevator reaches the floor. The girl pockets the syringe and walks through the door. She waves a hand over her shoulder at Quia. “C’mon.”

Another shiver runs down her spine as she rethinks over all that just happened. What would happen if she gets reported for this? Quia sighs, more like when _._ Fear clogs her throat and she focuses on keeping her breathing even.

“In for four, hold for seven, and out for eight.”

A voice quickly brings her back to reality. She opens her previously closed eyes to see that the girl paused walking and was looking at her. 4, 7, 8? Why did this girl suddenly recommend a breathing technique? That is weirdly nice of her.

The stranger shifts a little awkwardly under Quia’s questioning look.

She speaks again. “You were trying to calm your breathing right? Was just giving you a technique.” The girl straightens and coughs, clearing her throat. A mumbled, "It's no big deal," can be barely heard. She begins walking again quickly. Quia jogs a little to keep up.

Her fears long forgotten, she continues to look at the stranger. “Thanks.” The girl nods in reply before stopping in front of a door. She turns to Quia.

“Stand out here and keep watch. If you hear or see anything or anyone, let me know.” She stated calmly as she slipped into the room.

Quia nods and stands next to the door. She shuffles her feet. What if this girl harmed her? No doubt she’d easily take Quia down. She had much more experience in fighting than her. Fighting was against the rules. And practicing fighting of any sorts. Should she report the stranger? Maybe she could lie and they wouldn’t punish her. Lying was against the rules, but they would probably believe her word over the stranger.

A small voice from inside the room catches her attention. She presses her ear against the door to try and make out the conversation. Eavesdropping was also against the rules, but she isn’t the only one who sometimes doesn’t follow that rule.

She makes out some of the conversation.

A girl’s voice talks first. Not the stranger from before. “I’m.. to be.. sis.”

So this must be the sister mentioned before? 

“I.. trust.. what if.. harm.. I wish.. way out.. They’ll probably… me soon.”

“I’m tough.. be fine.. protect.. you.. endanger…know it.”

Quia doesn’t get time to try and hear the rest, as she hears footsteps from down the hall. Her eyes flicker to her left to see multiple doctors and a few security guards racing down towards her.

One calls out, “Where is number VL06.8?!”

What? Quia doesn’t understand. VL? What does that mean? And what do those numbers mean? Everything is getting so confusing.

Before she can comprehend anything though, the girl is pushing through the door next to her. She turns, sees the doctors, and bolts into a sprint down through the corridor.

One of the doctors runs past her and grabs Quia’s arm, dragging her along. She lets herself be dragged. Her wrist feels sore after getting grabbed relentlessly. Even so, she doesn’t fight it. Retaliation was against the rules. And _no one_ wanted to see what happens when you break too many rules.

Quia felt the pulling on her wrist stop. She looks up to see the girl backed up in a corner.

A few security guards begin to grab her. The stranger struggles in their grip.

“I’LL FIND OTHER WAYS OUT OF THAT PLACE!! I’LL ALWAYS COME BACK!”

A doctor near Quia whispers to the other. “Should we just kill her here and now?”

The other nods. “Probably. What about Mr. Colfield? He may disagree.”

Kill?! That seems harsh. The girl only got caught because she wasn’t warned. So if she died, it’d be Quia’s fault. Even if she doesn’t know this girl, she didn’t deserve that. No one does.

Clearing her throat, she tries to be brave. “You shouldn’t kill her. I was the one that helped her get in the building.” She closes her eyes before squinting them open nervously.

Everyone is staring at her. The doctors have looks of disappointment and hatred. She could tell the word they thought to describe her right now. Rule breaker.

As for the stranger, she was looking like a mess of emotions. Quia can’t pinpoint any. The girl’s eyes were wide open, long black eyelashes fluttering out. Her hair was as much of a mess as before, but her clothes were more disheveled due to all her struggling. She was biting down on her lip and her eyes began twitching. Quia watched as her entire body slumps in defeat.

“Very well.” One of the security guards that isn’t holding the stranger secure, grabs her wrists. They drag her away. She watches as the girl is also dragged away. A doctor steps towards the girl with a syringe in hand. Quia opens her mouth to say something, anything, but she feels a sting at her neck and everything goes black.

—

Throbbing. She pinpoints an ache in her head. There’s also a large numb feeling for her body making her feel weak. She blinks. Once. Twice. Finally, Quia cracks open her eyes and lets them adjust to the lighting. It isn’t as bright as the hospital, but she wouldn’t call it dim.

She sits up and takes in where she seems to be. Below her is a bed, but the sheets are torn in places and there are books littering the floor around. The walls are a rusty gray with scrapes and cracks. A large mildew smell lingers, but there’s a substantial smell of cinnamon, pine needles, and the ocean. She can’t place what it’s coming from.

“Not what your used to, eh?” Quia freezes. That voice is extremely familiar. She glances up and sees the stranger from before looking straight down at her, face inches away. She smirks and waves.

“Yo.”


	3. Over and Over, the Only Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from the song:  
> This Town - Niall Horan

“Yo.”

Quia becomes more aware of all her five senses. She can hear water dripping, she can hear the quiet breathing of herself and the girl. She could hear barking of a dog in the distance. She could feel the sheets below her. She could feel the clothes she wore. She could feel the cold air around her. She could taste dirt and rust. She could smell the mildew, the pines. She could see the stranger’s dark green eyes, guarded and unreadable. She could see the girl’s long lavender locks up in a messy bun. 

Her voice cracks as she speaks. “Why are you here?”

The girl continues to look at her closely before standing up straight and walking a few feet away to plop into a chair. The chair is brown with rips and stuffing falling out.

“Shouldn’t you be asking yourself why  _ you're  _ here?” The girl sighs and reaches down on the floor for a thick book and seems to stare at it in thought for a moment.

Good point. Why  _ is  _ she here? Wherever this place actually  _ is _ ? Is this a dream? No, why would she be dreaming of the stranger she met then? Wait.. is this her-

“Is this my punishment?” Quia darts her eyes back to the girl. The stranger doesn’t look at her, but smirks and leans back in the chair, eyes closed.

“You figured it out pretty quickly, bravo.” Her voice is layered in sarcasm.

Even still, Quia questioned on. What can she say, she’s curious? “What exactly is this place?”

The girl opens her eyes with a sigh. She finally looks at her and stands up abruptly.

“Follow me.” 

They walk in silence for a long time, ambling through the dim hall. Quia takes this as her chance to get an answer to a question.

“What should I call you?”

The girl stops walking. “VL. You can call me VL. V for short if you want.” She doesn’t look at her as she continues down the hall.

Quia jogs to keep up. “Well you can call me Quia.”

VL doesn’t respond.

They reach a ladder extending up towards a latch on the ceiling. VL climbs up the ladder and clicks open the latch. 

“C’mon.” 

She follows her up the ladder. 

Once she climbs out, she sees gray. 

The skies. They fold over each other again and again. Grays going over pale blues and more grays. Dark gray clouds paint and mold into the sky. Smoke dances through the air. Buildings sit tightly next to each other in the distance. They stand crippled like broken vases. Pale green hills and dark trees wave back and forth. Shriveled flowers twist low to the ground here and there. 

“They call it the End Zone..”

Quia turns to VL. She stands there staring out at the sky and hills. Her eyebrows are hunched over her eyes. Her green eyes are glossed over like a wall blocking Quia inside. She’s biting on her lip and digging her nails in her skin. It reminded Quia of an abused dog. Guarded and distant. VL closes her eyes and sighs.

“I prefer the name 'reality.'”

Quia sighs herself and turns her gaze back to the sky. “What happened to this place?”

VL scoffs and leans against a rickety black railing. “Lots of things. When those government officials of yours made ‘The Society’ they stole a good chunk of this place.” She clenches her fists. “You’d be surprised by the filthy rotten bastards that make up that government of yours. That Premier Victor is the worst of them all. Those two twins are devil spawn.”

The bitterness and hate in her voice catches Quia off guard. VL shifts so that she’s sitting on the rail with her legs dangling out freely. Silence makes itself present between them.

VL sighs and begins to walk back inside. Quia follows behind her. 

She grabs her goggles she was wearing at the hospital and lets her messy lavender hair out of its bun. Her hands cross over as she walks through the halls.

Where is she going?

“You going somewhere?” 

VL pauses. “Yes.”

A smile stretches across Quia’s face. “Where? Can I come.”

VL opens a cabinet near her without moving her feet. She takes out a small triangular black item. She twirls it on her finger for a moment before stowing it in her belt with skill. 

“Nope.” She pops the p. “Stay here.” Stay here? Did she think she was some kind of child? 

Quia’s eyes follow her retrieving form as it disappears through a small tunnel behind a large mossy rock. She stands there in silence. Was she really that naive? 

—

Quia lets out a groan. It’s been 2 and a half hours since VL left. She read through a book about reptiles, a book about how to treat different types of stab wounds, and she just finished a book about a thing called Anxiety she’s never heard of before. There are a million books all over this place, but she’s getting bored. 

She lets her head rest on the back of the torn up chair. Her eyes flicker closed. A memory of her mom plays into her head.

_ The water hits the soil smoothly, darkening the color. _

_ She sees her mom smile at her, eyes crinkling in the corners. “What do you think dear? Aren’t the flowers lovely?” _

_ A wide smile spreads across Quia’s mouth. “Yeah! They smell just like you, Mamma!”  _

_ Her mother chuckles and sets the watering can down on a small wooden table. “That’s because I spend so much time with them.” _

_ “Do they like you?” _

_ Another chuckle. “I’d sure hope so.” _

_ Quia leans close to a flower and pokes a petal. “Tending to your garden is sort of like treating an owie!” She bounces back to her feet and stands on her tippy toes. Her mother pats her head and smiles, sitting down on the white wooden swing beside the garden.  _

_ “I suppose that’s true. You sure do have your mind set on helping people don’t you?”  _

_ She sits beside her mother with a happy hum. “Yup! I wanna make everyone happy!” _

_ Her mother smiles fondly and looks down at Quia. “I’m sure you will.” _

_ Quia nods and reaches over to retrieve a small book titled, ‘Oh! The Places You’ll Go.’ _

_ “Can you read this to me again, Mamma?” _

_ Another fond smile. “Of course, dear.” _

_ “...You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose…” _

Quia feels a small cold sting at her eyes. Tears. She hated being away from her mother. No one else made her feel so safe and unstoppable. 

How is she supposed to help people now? 

There’s a small shuffle near the door. She stands and walks closer to the door. It’s brown with paint chipped off everywhere.

The door creaks open slightly. A small little black nose peaks in through the crack. The door pushes open a little more to reveal a medium size dog. The dog is white and fluffy with black paws and ears. One ear is shorter and wrapped up cream colored bandages. A blue colored collar hangs loosely around the dog’s neck. A boy then.. The dog trots up to her and sniffs her then sits.

Quia kneels down beside the dog. “Who’s a cute puppy?” She scratches gently behind his ears. The dog jumps up and licks her face with love. 

“He usually doesn’t like people that fast.” A familiar voice says. Quia looks up to see VL leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. A small smirk is on her face.

“What’s his name?” 

VL pauses, eyes glancing up into the unknown. Then with a quiet sigh, she looks back at Quia. “His name is Sage.”

Sage’s tail whips back and forth through the air with pride. He sticks his head up, mouth open in a wide smile. Quia ruffles the tufts of fur on his head. 

“He’s adorable. Is Sage your dog?” 

Another pause. VL eyes are looking off into the unknown of the room, not on Quia. She looks very.. distracted.

“What’s wrong?” She could hear the concern in her own voice. She only hopes VL heard it as well. For all she knows, its just going to be VL and her from now on.

That seems to snap her out of whatever world she was in as her head turns and she looks at Quia. She wears a frown upon her lips and her eyebrows twitch as they arch downward.

“Everything.” The reply is in a voice she hasn’t heard from VL yet. There is emotions Quia can’t even begin to understand tracing the edges of each letter as she says one simple word.

Even if it is a simple word, Quia is confused. “How can everything be wrong?”

VL turns to look away again. Her arms are still crossed as she sighs and leans her head against the door frame as well. Her eyes slowly trail over the wooden panels making up the roof of the room. 

“How can anything be right?” Her eyebrows scrunch up more. Teeth begin to bite down on her dark pink lips.

More confusion builds up inside Quia. “Well you’re alive… which is a good thing, right?” 

With that, VL’s eyes gloss over again, her eyebrows stop curving down so much and her teeth let go of her lip. Now  _ this _ Quia is more familiar with.

This time the reply is stern and guarded. “Good and bad are opinionated. Like if you were walking down a path. Say you get to a break in the path with a turn left and a turn right. For someone who is wanting to go down one of those paths, the break in the path is a good thing. For someone who wants to continue straight down the path, it isn’t a good thing.”

This only goes to confuse Quia even more. “So is living a good thing or bad thing for you?”

VL’s eyes glance over to Quia with a painless glare. “Don’t try to figure me out.”

What? “How am I-”

Her voice interrupts the question like a knife cuts through foods. 

“I am not a book for you to read. Facts about a person’s opinion or personal life are able to be used against them. Do you think I’m so blind to not be able to see that?” Fire adds to the glare.

Quia gulps. She doesn’t mean anything like that? She just wants to know more about VL. 

“Who said that’s what I was doing?” She feels a small frown on her mouth.

VL’s eyes narrow as she squints at her. “You. Not directly and obviously not purposefully.”

Why can’t they get along? “I-”

“Even so your intentions are clear.”

Exasperation slowly bubbles inside Quia. “Well fine. Still, what makes ‘everything’ wrong?”

She was going to learn something about VL through this conversation if it was the last thing she did.

“Life. People. Fate. Anything really. There’s a reason I call this place reality. Unlike your fake ‘Society’ you’re used to, this place is actually somewhat realistic.” When she gets to the word society, she says it with venom and hate.

Quia bites down on her lip as she tries to see what VL was thinking. She sighs after a few seconds of nothing. 

“How so?”

“Messy. Unfair. Different. Colorful. Broken. There’s a million words that can describe what life is like. It’s similar to climbing a mountain. It’s hard and awful to climb, but when you get to the top the view is gorgeous.”

Quia opens her mouth to ask and understand more, but VL continues talking.

“Except sometimes people are able to hike the mountain faster, while some people get stuck at the bottom and it takes forever for them to reach the top.”

“Wow.” is the only thing Quia can say to that.

“Yep-po. For some people, life is beautiful, with only a few rough winds and storms.” Her voice grows more emotional as if she connected deeply with each word. “For some, every step feels heavy like chains are attached. Where every breath is a luxury not to be taken for granted.” VL sighs and stands up straight. She walks past Quia and sits on the torn up chair that Quia was in only a few moments ago.

Worry and concern crawls up Quia’s throat. “D-Do you feel that way?”

VL crosses her arms and closes her eyes. Her eyebrows scrunch up in thought. “I’m complicated. Most people are hard to understand with simple yes or no questions. And remember,” Her eyes flicker open into another glare. “We aren’t friends. Never will be.”

Darn it. Oodles burger. Why is it so hard to connect with this girl? “What if I  _ do _ wanna be friends?”

VL smirks and leans back with a mildly amused hum. “Sorry to burst your naive bubble, but no can do Mädchen. I’m not here to paint my nails or talk about cute boys. Don’t expect me to go telling my life story.”

“But- I- Ma what now?” Why is everything this girl says so confusing?

“Shh. Don’t go pulling your panties into a twist. I’ll say what I want and tell what I want to tell. That’s all there is to it.” She jumps to her feet and walks towards the door. Sage bounces up and trots after her. VL’s feet stop right at the door frame. Without turning her head, she says one last thing.

“Rest up. Tomorrow, you’ll meet Spencer.”

Before Quia can ask who Spencer is, VL shuts the door behind her and Quia is once again alone.

She’s decided she hates being alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mädchen = Girl (German)


	4. To Make You Stare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from the song This is Home by Cavetown

Quia feels something wet. It moves up and down her cheek making it feel soggy and strange. Cracking open her eyes, she glances at Sage licking her face. His tail wags back and forth. 

As per usual, she hears a voice confirming she isn’t alone (well alone with Sage). “I see he managed to wake you up. Good.”

VL leans over her. She’s holding in her arms some sort of pile of clothes and fabrics.

“Put this on. We’ll get attacked if anyone can tell you’re a newcomer.” She tosses the clothing on top of Quia. Quia closes her eyes in time to feel a scratchy, soft fabric weigh on them. She hears the door click shut.

A sigh rattles from her dry throat. That makes her finally pay attention to her stomach. It aches and twists. She hasn’t eaten since yesterday morning? Two days ago? Three days ago? How long had she been asleep before she woke up for the first time? She makes a thought to ask VL once she finishes changing.

Quia fumbles over to the dirty full length mirror. The dress is a light green like the color of cabbage. Around her waist, there’s a minty green line around the dress. The collar is made of white lace that matches the lace bottom of the dress. The dress is short ending a little before her knees. She puts on matching white socks with the lace top the color of the dress. The pile of clothes has a pair of short gray boots alongside two minty green cuffs similar to bracelets and a minty green bow. Pulling on the boots, she ties her medium length brown hair into a ponytail. 

“I’m done!” Quia calls, signaling VL back into the room. 

The door creaks open and Sage runs up to her, licking her face all over. VL smirks and crosses her arms. 

“That took a while. Still like to waste my time, huh?” She sighs and motions to the hall behind her. “We have to get going soon. I want to try and catch Constance before she leaves as well.”

The large amount of confusion fills Quia again, a feeling she is slowly becoming used to. “Who’s Constance, in fact who’s Spencer too?”

VL gives her a blank stare. A moment later, she avoids Quia’s gaze and looks at the door. Her arms tighten in their crossed position. “Friends?” She says unsure. Then, she straightens her posture and looks back at Quia confidently. “They’re friends of mine.”

Quia thinks over the way she answered. Something feels off, but she goes ahead and nods along. “Are we going somewhere far?”

She gets a shrug. VL yanks on her pair of high black boots. She’s wearing a camouflage green romper with a gray cropped denim jacket over it. Her long lilac lavender hair is twisted in a braid. She has a black bandana around her neck and a rusty gray belt around her waist. A knife, some sort of angular object, and a flashlight are attached to the belt. 

Her finger points at the unknown object. “What’s that?” 

VL’s eyes move to look at the object. “It’s a gun. Don’t have those in the Society?” 

Quia tilts her head and purses her lips. “A… gun?”

“Pff.” She raises an eyebrow and smirks. Her thin slender hand grabs the gun and holds it out in such a way that Quia can examine it without touching it.

She wonders why it’s needed. Is a gun a dangerous thing?

“What does it do?” 

VL leans back and points to a curve on the gun. “This is called a trigger. If you pull it back..” She points to a hole at one end of the gun. “then one of these..” She holds up a small oval object. “get shot out. This..” VL points back at the hole. “is called a muzzle or the mouth.” She motions back to the small oval. “This is a bullet, or a pellet if you’re being fancy. A bullet, from a good distance and at the right aim, can injure someone darn well.” 

Quia frowns. “That sounds dangerous. Why would you carry that around?”

She puts the bullet into a small cartridge and sticks it in the gun with a smirk. “Why not carry it around?”

With that, the conversation ended and silence filled the dusty room.

VL searches through a pile of books on the floor before grabbing a thick leather covered book from the middle. 

“Alright. Let’s go.”

—

Once they were out of the weird underground base of VL’s, VL turned to her.

“We’re going to be heading through one of the denser sub divisions. This place isn’t only filled with the different shit faces who broke too many rules, it’s also crawling with their fucking failed science experiments.” She spits it out with a glare not seemingly meant for Quia.

“Do they attack?” She hopes not. Just because someone breaks rules or is an experiment doesn’t make them a bad being.

She hears a scoff. “Fuck yes they do. Most people here are psychotic as fuck and the animal like  _ things _ are brain dead. If you aren’t careful or smart, you’ll end up injured, robbed, abused, used, lied to, or dead.” 

Oh.. that’s unfortunate. “So what do I do? I don’t know how this place works.”

VL sighs. “Just stay behind me and don’t talk to  _ anyone _ .” 

Her hips swurve and she turns forward. They continue walking.

Quia notices ink peeking out atop the back of her neck. She wants to ask about it, but with a glance at VL’s focused features and determined eyes, she remains silent.

They enter this run down city. Rats scurry in the corners of buildings and rubble. Spiders and cockroaches layer the ground like leaves. A strange vomit green, boney squirrel perches in a broken window. Must be one of the ‘science experiments’ VL mentioned..

As they pass an alleyway, Quia spots a girl and a boy. Their eyes are bloodshot with dilated pupils. Crazy grins are on both their faces. They both have orange curls that spike up everywhere. Sickly skin covers their body. The boy wears a suit with flip flops and his pant legs are short. The bow tie is pink. The girl wears a green tutu with purple suspenders and red cowboy boots.

They both crawl closer as Quia walks past. Whispering in unison, voices squeaky and distorted, they speak. “Hello, Girl-lee!” 

A tug at her arm drags her attention away. She looks to see VL glaring at her. “Don’t talk with those two.”

She nods, but steals one last glance at the two before jogging to catch up to VL. She walks beside her.

“Who are those people?” Quia asks.

VL frowns and grits her teeth. “Lodala and Lexov Laz or as they call themselves: The LL twins.” She wrinkles her nose in distaste. “Crazy little fuckers if I’m being honest. I’ve had some…  _ disturbing  _ encounters with them.” She shudders and her hands tighten into fists. 

They continue the walk in silence.

—

VL stops outside a junkyard. She grabs a can on the ground and writes the word ‘Onomatopoeia.’ After writing on it, she tosses it through the entrance.

They both wait a minute or two before a small ball is thrown out. 

“Lets go.” VL grabs Quia’s arm and pulls her behind her as she enters.

She leads them through a narrow path and to a broken blue car. She pulls open the door and shoves them both in before closing it again. Inside the small car, there’s a ladder descending into the ground. 

“Follow me down here.” VL climbs down the ladder and Quia follows.

Quia turns around and sees a guy attacking VL with a hug. He has dark brown short sideburns with hair piled on top the color of wet sand. Blue Marks of Passing dot under his turquoise eyes. His skin is tanned and he’s wearing a blue choker with matching blue capris. His short sleeved shirt is a coral color. She notices his arm is metallic and looks robotic. 

He smiles gleefully and hugs VL tight. VL hugs him loosely back. 

“Vee!!!! I’m so glad to see you! You should have told me you were coming to pick up Sagie Wagey yesterday!” He pouts and pulls back from the hug. 

His eyes flicker to Quia and his smile widens. “Oo! Who is this cutie patooty?” His robotic arm waves to her and his other rests on his hip. 

VL looks in her direction for a moment before looking back at the guy. “Names Quia. Latest person to be thrown out. Owe her a favor, so here we are.” 

The guy smiles and walks over the Quia. He holds his non robotic hand out and grins brightly. “Hi buddy! I’m Spencer Pilgrims at your service!” He tips an invisible hat. Quia shakes his hand and smiles back at him. “I’m Quia Nova! I was wondering..” She points at his robotic looking arm. “Why does your arm look like that?”

Spencer glances at his arm and rubs the back of his neck. “It’s uh kinda a long story. Personal too, sorry, but basically I have a prosthetic.” 

Quia’s eyebrows furrow. “Prosthetic?”

VL’s voice fills the conversation. “A prosthetic is an artificial body part. His arm is robotic.”

They both turn to see VL’s arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.

“Spence. Since I’m here and not in District 3, it’s obvious that I got caught..  _ again _ .” She sighs and shifts her balance to her other foot. “I wanted to discuss with you and Nik about a new plan. Maybe we can infiltrate the main station in District 5. It all depends on if Nik and Constance found out anything new. Speaking of, is Constance here still?”

Quia frowns and contemplates who these people might be. What are they like?

He shakes his head. “Left last sun. Niko is here though. Most likely in the lab.” 

The two friends walk down the rock hall. Quia follows behind in confusion. 

They enter a room with rusty iron and metal walls. It’s filled with tools and lab equipment that she doesn’t recognize.

A person behind a table covered in books and two computers, stands up and turns as they enter. Quia can’t tell if the person is a girl or a boy. VL and Spencer called the person Nik and Niko which sound like it could be both a girl or a boy’s name, right?

The stranger has black, dark hair tied back in a small messy ponytail the size of a golf ball. She/He has porcelain skin and navy blue eyes. Quia feels her eyes widen when she sees  _ purple _ Marks of Passing dotted under the stranger’s feather like eyes.

Purple? PURPLE?! What does that mean? All Marks of Passing are either pink or blue based on gender.

VL shoves her shoulder and whispers in her ear. Her breath is warm against Quia’s dark skin. “Before you lose your mind, think of Nikola with they/them pronouns.” 

They/them? That’s definitely new. Is that just another thing that she doesn’t understand and she’ll never fully will because she isn’t supposed to be  _ here _ ?

Probably. Agitation makes itself present in her temples. 

Nikola walks up to her and puts out their hand. “Hello there! I’m Nikola, but if that’s too hard you can call me Nik. Consider me with them or they pronouns, okay? I know my pronouns are probably confusing, but I promise it’ll get easier the more you practice.”

Quia finds herself blurting her thoughts. “How can someone be born a ‘they?’”

They smile reassuringly. “I actually wasn’t. I was born as a thing the government calls ‘Intersex.’ It means I’m sorta both a boy and a girl. That’s why my Marks are purple.” They point to their Marks of Passing. “I chose to go by the pronouns They/Them myself.”

Spencer sighs happily. “Isn’t my especially special other just amazing?” He hugs Nikola from behind. Quia glances at VL. She has her arms crossed and she is looking at some pile of papers. 

Quia looks back at Spencer. “Special other?” She asks.

“We’re in a romantic relationship!” Spencer chirps.

She looks at the two. Nikola has this shy smile on and Spencer is smiling goofily. They look happy. So far they’ve even shared their names. So why is VL not doing so? Why won’t she tell Quia her actual name and not some two letter codename? Why won’t she laugh and smile? 

It’s strange.

Everything here is strange. There’s people with purple Marks of Passing, or even none at all. There’s broken buildings and creepy crawlies. Nothing is normal. Not in the way the Society felt. 

She wonders if Spencer or Nikola lived in any of the districts. She looks at their eye colors. Each district has a different color hue that the eyes are. District 3, her district, has a hazel-brown color. Quia’s never traveled to another district before, but everyone knows that each one has a different eye color. 

“What districts were you two in?” She asks accidentally. Her head is rushing so fast she keeps blurting questions, but they don’t seem to mind.

Nikola smiles and sits down in a wooden chair. They lay their hands in their lap. Before they can speak, Spencer excitedly grins. “I’m from District 9!” He points to his eyes. “Turquoise eyes!”

He giggles happily. Nikola smiles lovingly at him and looks at Quia. “I’m District 10, Navy eyes.” They state in a calm manner. 

She turns to VL. “What about you?” 

VL glances up. “Hmm?” She has the stack of papers in her hands now, seemingly sorting through them. “District?”

Quia nods. VL hums a bit before looking down at the papers and reading them again. 

“I forget.” 

What? How can anyone  _ forget _ their district? It’s as common knowledge as their ABCs! 

She opens her mouth to question her.

Spencer sends her a serious stare. He shakes his head. Quia closes her mouth.

What is going on?

Nikola, Spencer, and VL move on to discuss things. She can’t understand them. Are they speaking a different language? She doesn’t know. 

Why is everything here so complicated?


	5. Here We Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Legend - The Score

Quia sighs and plops her head on her arms. VL, Spencer, and Nikola are still talking in a strange unknown language.

It reminds her of birds fighting over territory. One squawking loudly at the other while another flaps its wings threateningly. Not to mention you can't understand a thing they might be saying.

The conversation had started off with the three of them chatting calmly amongst each other, but it slowly grew more heated.

_Spencer sighs and looks to the side. "V, ich denke, wir sollten diesmal länger warten."_

_VL goes pale. "Spencer, das kann ich nicht." She glares at him and goes to the end of the room grabbing a stack of papers. "Sind dies die Dateien, die Sie gestohlen haben?"_

_Nikola nods. "Die letzten, ja." They folds their arms and look at VL from across the room. VL examines the papers._

_"Sie verlassen gerade das Gespräch?" Nikola tsks._

_A growl. "Meine Punkte werden offensichtlich nicht ernst genommen, was muss ich sonst tun?"_

_Nikola growls loudly._

_And then yelling begins._

She watches them from a little ways away.

"Wir können uns das nicht leisten und Sie wissen es!" VL is gripping tightly at the stack of papers.

"Wir können es uns nicht leisten zu sterben! So bald zu gehen, wäre eine Selbstmordmission!" Nikola argues. They frown at VL.

Spencer holds his arms up, frantically trying to stop the two from arguing. At least, that's what Quia guesses is going on from the raised voices and frustrated expressions.

"Jungs! Wir können einfach mehr Geld aufbringen und den Plan um zwei Wochen verlängern, als wir es uns vorgenommen haben!" He gives them both a forced grin.

VL whips her head around to look at him. "Wir haben keine Zeit für diesen, Spencer! Ich muss sie verbrennen! Ich kann nicht hier sitzen, wenn sein Leben wegen ihm auf dem Spiel stehen könnte!" Her eyes widen after the words finish leaving her mouth. She sighs and plops into a chair. "Es tut mir leid, Spencer. Ich möchte nur, dass es ihr gut geht."

Quia blinks in confusion. What is happening? Ugh. So much for learning more about what's going on.

She looks around and spots a small hand-sized item.

Oh? What's this?

It looks strange. It has a small square at the top that sinks in and is colored navy. Two buttons are below it and they entire contraption is a orangey yellow color.

She grabs it and looks through the square while the other three aren't looking. When she looks through the contraption, everything grows dark. Quia can't spot Spencer or Nikola. However, she can see a grayed red outline of VL. Inside the outline, there's a large flame like thing glowing the color of a rose.

It's pretty. She's never seen something like this before.

The flame dances around, outline moving subtly along with VL's movements. Warm sunset oranges swirl along with angry reds and hints of rusty navy. Thorns of bloody red trickle through the flame as if the imaginary dancer is hurt.

The outline changes extremely. "What are yo- WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT!?" Quia peeks out over the strange item to see VL glaring at her.

_Did I do something wrong? Oh no..._

"What the fuck were you-"

A small ball, out of nowhere, shoots into the room from some sort of pipe.

Nikola's eyes widen. "They're here!" They look at VL and bolt under one of the tables. What's happening?

VL yells to everybody in the room. "EVERYONE HIDE SOMEWHERE! DON'T TALK NOR MOVE!" After she finishes yelling, she goes out of the room in a sprint.

Spencer grabs Quia's arm and pulls her behind him. "C'mon let's hide over here." The two climb into a small closet and sit down. Spencer closes the door.

Quia breathes in the dusty oxygen.

Everything is dark. Shades of copper brown surround her. Wood is flaking off edges of the walls. It all looks rustic even in the dark.

"I forgot what it feels like to be 'in the closet.'" He chuckles at his own joke. Even if he laughed, a dull look takes over Spencer's face. His eyes flicker brightly with shades of faded turquoise and laced pain. Each unknown memory a firework in his irises.

"What does that mean?" Quia questions. The feeling of change is still a present company in the pit of her stomach. The Society has so many fake truths that she once thought were the best form of honesty. It feels like there are more to be unraveled and Quia isn't sure if she is excited or terrified.

He looks straight ahead at the closed doors. "I used to live in the Society as you know. I came up for a term called being closeted."

Closeted? "What does it represent?"

"It's because I hid in closets a lot. I was in a relationship." Spencer runs his prosthetic hand through his hair. "It wasn't assigned however. So we had to keep it secret. I assume you know the rule against non-assigned relationships."

Quia nods. Rule #103 is that if a relationship is not assigned it is not permitted.

His eyebrows hunch over sad eyes. "That wasn't the only reason though. I.. the relationship was with a guy." He doesn't comment on Quia's small gasp of surprise. "We really liked each other, but eventually we realized we just... weren't meant for each other. It's not because we weren't assigned though, it's because we both wanted different things in the end."

"What do you mean by that?" She looks at her wrists. Taking in the feel of the leather cuffing her skin.

Spencer gives a lopsided smile. "I can't fall in love with a girl. I think the term Nik came up with was Nowoma. Anyways, the Society would have assigned me with a girl and I wouldn't have been ever able to fall in love with her."

"B-but... isn't the assigning programs never wrong?" _This can't be right.._

He sighs and drags a hand down his face. "I wish. Most of the times it never works out. Even so though, most people don't report it because they think it's their own fault. After all, nothing could possibly be wrong with the 'perfect society.'"

Flickers of memories pop into her mind.

_"Most of the times it never works out.."_

_"You're father is just busy with work.."_

_"My brother doesn't seem happy.."_

_"There's other things besides your assigned partner sweetie.."_

Were all those memories lies? How is she supposed to know for sure? What if the real lie is what she's being told now?

What's _real_?

A hand on her shoulder provides her a small distraction. She shakes her head and focuses on Spencer's story. "What happened next?"

"A few weeks after we broke up, his parents found out and reported us."

She feels each word circle around in her head. This stuff might help her understand this brand new world. It might help her understand the people as well. Even if right now, she wants to understand the Society more.

"Luckily, I wasn't punished so harshly that I was sent here. Though, I did get a bad reputation among my peers. Anyways, I thought the term "In the closet" worked decently to describe keeping your "romantic preferences" a secret." He chuckles and faces her.

"However, life isn't meant to be spent dwelling on mistakes. In the end we wouldn't have done them if they weren't what we believed was the correct choice at the time." He smiles at her reassuringly.

_The correct choice at the time.._

Quia thinks back to the 'mistake' that brought her here. Was lying the correct choice at the time? Or was lying not a mistake in the end anyways? She thinks about her conversation with VL. _'Unlike your fake 'Society' you're used to, this place is actually somewhat realistic.'_ Fake society.. what does that mean? She mentally notes to ask VL later.

In the end, Spencer is right. She knows that helping VL was the correct option in her situation. And a part of her can't come to regret her decision.

Spencer taps her shoulder. "Wanna listen to V being her badass self?" He smiles proudly at his comment.

She shakes her head excitedly. Spencer takes out a small rectangle with some sort of antenna. He clicks a button and then a quiet buzz sounds before a voice she knew to be VL's comes from the box.

 _"Like fuck I'm going to hand it over. You owe us money too!"_ VL growls at an unknown person.

This is kinda exciting. Nothing like this ever happened in her life at the Society. Whether or not that's a good thing, Quia isn't sure.

 _"You don't have to pay money, we've been over this! We'll take any of the 'other' payments. Preferably number 7 or 2!"_ An unknown voice argues.

There's a sound that Quia guesses is a slap. Probably from VL.

_"Don't touch me you fuckin' rat!"_

Spencer takes out a new small square box and clicks a button. A fuzzy image of VL and some man comes up. From what she can see, Quia does understand why VL called him a rat. His nose is pointed with hairy sideburns and eyebrows. Gray strands of hair stick out of his head. No hair lays on the very top of his head.

VL moves forward and kicks Rat man in the crotch before grabbing a fist of hair on the side of his head. She then forces his head into the ground by also kicking his legs off the floor.

The man crashes into the floor before scrambling out of the junkyard.

 _"Don't fucking come back!"_ VL yells after him.

Spencer clicks buttons and both the fuzzy image and now the fuzzy sound are off.

"Wasn't that just thrillin'?" He chuckles.

She nods. There's still so much she wants to understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the translation for the conversation between VL, Spencer, and Nikola. Keep in mind that the German might be formal, but that's due to the characters choice of preference. (And The fact that I'm not fluent in german omo)
> 
> V, I think we should wait longer this time.
> 
> Spencer, I can't do that.
> 
> Are these the files you stole?
> 
> The recent ones, yes.
> 
> You just leaving the conversation?
> 
> My points are obviously not being taken seriously, so what else do I have to do?
> 
> We can not afford it and you know it!
> 
> We can not afford to die! To go so soon would be a suicide mission!
> 
> Guys! We can simply raise more money and extend the plan by two weeks than we have planned!
> 
> We do not have time for this, Spencer! I have to burn him! I can not sit here if her life could be at stake because of him!
> 
> I'm sorry, Spencer. I just want her to be fine.


End file.
